1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a safety system for buses, and more particularly, to a safety system for school buses.
2. Prior Art
The safety of school children and other students who travel by bus to and from school, is constantly a concern. Since students on a bus have been known to be difficult to control in that they do not always maintain their seats, this is a particular cause for concern, and can produce injuries due to the fact that the bus is mostly in motion. The problem is further exacerbated if the bus is involved in an accident such as a collision with another vehicle. Also, it is difficult for the bus operator to know how many persons are occupying seats in the bus at any given time. The driver lacks the ability to continuously monitor the status of the passengers while operating the vehicle. Still further, there is no way for a central location, for example the depot from which the bus originates, to know the operational condition of the bus as it proceeds on its route. Whereas there have been developments proposed in the prior art regarding different aspects of the overall problem, no one has as yet developed a comprehensive fully integrated system to deal with the entire range of issues involved in the transportation of students by bus to and from a school.
It is accordingly, the principal object of the present invention to provide a safety system for buses, and in particular school buses, that operates taking into account the entire range of issue involved. This is accomplished by the present invention by providing a school bus with a host of sensors utilizing state-of-the-art technology so that implementation is readily effected without any substantial redesign of the basic structure of the bus, and without requiring any significant modification of the vehicular structure. In addition, the functional activities to be controlled are constantly monitored, with reporting to a central location.
Other objects and advantages will become more evident from the following detailed description of a specific preferred embodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings.